Camping in CA - McClure or Don Pedro?

Gonna plan a camping trip and want to try a new lake. Anyone with experience on either (preferably both) have any feedback or preference?

Would probably do an extended weekend before Labor Day so still in high season and still on a weekend so I'm wondering also what crowds are like and how easy it may be to find good water on weekend days and how far you might have to go to find it.

Other questions--
- quality of camp sites for tent camping
- preference of locations on the lake (I think Mcclure has 5 campgrounds not sure how many DP has)

they're both good for tent camping, tho at don pedro, mocassin point is the best place to camp. you have to pull your boat out, but the sites are nice. unless you do overflow camping at mocassin point...then you can leave boat in water, but sites aren't as nice.

new melones is nice. we usually stay at glory hole (i think that's the name).

I like the camping at McClure a little better, but the lake is small and gets chopped up quick. Joe is right about Mocassin at Pedro. If you go, Mocossin is definitely the better of the two camp areas at Pedro. On a three day weekend, or pretty much any weekend in the summer, you'll only have nice water until 11 or so. Morning and evening sets are usually great at Pedro.

Melones and Pedro are very similar. The scenery is about the same. Glory Hole is the place at Melones.

Anyone know about closest lodging to McClure? Gonna try to get up there to visit a friend, but the wife and kids just said no to camping.

I just dropped my son at the westcoast wakeboard camp on McClure, and it is a small lake approx 26 miles long with 86 miles of shore line. McClure maybe one of Cali's best kept secrets (until now). Jeff I dont know of any lodging except maybe Stockton (60 miles away), but they do have houseboats and party barges for rent

I had a bad camping experience at McClure but it was during the week and there was basically no people around except me and the bad guys. On a weekend I'm sure you're fine. Anything on a houseboat like WCC is great and absolutely no problem. Gary: Your son will have a great time. The Schwann is very cool as well as Bucky and Jerrod. My son and I had an incredible time there.

oh yeah...i brought up melones cause it's so freakin' close to pedro that you have to consider it.

as for mcclure, been there 3x...camping and riding sucked, each time.

John, heard from him today , and he is having a ball (even learning something) too bad it will be over soon. What happened to you with the "bad guys"

Joe, if you have camped there 3x... and it sucked, why did you go back the second time, then the third...However thanks for helping to keep people off the lake

go to pedro if you are going on a weekend, if a weekday-go to mcclure, pedro is large enough to handle the crowds on the weekends if you know the spots to go to

Jeff- there is a small town on the way to mcclure that might have a little motel to stay in, the town is called snelling so you can check that out, if not turlock (where im from) is only a 30-45 min drive from there and we have some decent motels here

No injuries, just a pretty bad scene with some guys who likely recently were released from incarceration.

WCC is SICK! I recommend it to everyone.

gary, i went 'cause a bunch of friends like that lake. sometimes, you have to shrug your shoulders to bad water to hang out w/ good people.